BOSTON, June 10, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Catholic and pro-life groups are expressing outrage at the Boston Catholic hospitals' participation in state health care, after the jointly-owned plan's website confirmed it would provide abortion, contraception, and sterilization, and would ensure access to the services.
The story lines given by Brian Delaney of Celticare contains glaring omissions:
(LSN) today asked CeltiCare communications director Brian Delaney what would happen to a CeltiCare member seeking an abortion at a Caritas Christi hospital.
Delaney answered: "They will be - if a service is not provided at any facility, whether it be one of the Catholic hospitals or one of the health clinics ... then the person would be referred back to the plan, we have a 24/7 call center and they would find an appropriate [facility] ... assuming that that's not an emergency situation. We have call centers of all languages to assist a person in getting the services that are covered under our plan at an appropriate facility."
The first omission is that Caritas has agreed to compel Catholic employees to speak about the options of abortion in ways that oppose the teachings of the Church (they will no longer be able to state that abortion is murder and more importantly, the employees are compelled to speak about abortions in ways that oppose their conscience and Caritas has agreed to permit planned parenthood to monitor employees - if necessary inside of the examination rooms)
The second omission - They will be - if a service is not provided at any facility, whether it be one of the Catholic hospitals or one of the health clinics ... then the person would be referred back to the plan,
Mr. Delaney is speaking about "the plan" without identifying it as the joint venture which Caritas owns. "the plan" is Celticare and Celticare is owned by Centene and Caritas. The woman is being given the abortion information by the Archdiocese.
The Articles of Organization on the Massachusetts Secretary of State's Office demonstrate that CeltiCare has listed their business as an "HMO".
The Archdiocese has invested in this "HMO", which will be providing the moral evils and, paying for them. The Archdiocese is providing abortions and paying for abortions.
I'd say that's a bit different than they're doing now, wouldn't you?
When LSN asked whether the Caritas Christi hospital would refer a patient seeking abortion to the 24/7 call center, Delaney answered, "I believe so." "I'm not sure someone would necessarily walk into a Catholic hospital and ask for an abortion," he added with a laugh.
That is exactly what the plan compels the hospital to do as primary care physicians.
I've added "Caritas" where appropriate:
He concluded: "Whatever services are mandated by the state that we (Caritas) cover, we (Caritas) will assist that person appropriately in getting those services within or outside the network, either one."
Caritas is assisting the patient getting in obtaining the abortions. And, as the "insurance", they will pay for it.
Let's stop the intellectual dishonesty.
O'Malley also said in March that he had requested a consultation by the National Catholic Bioethics Center to ensure that the arrangement is faithful to Catholic principles, though there has since been no word of the Center's opinion.
Massachusetts' Catholic Action League, who has been suspicious of the joint venture for several months, says that CeltiCare's website provides "final and conclusive proof" of a scandalous relationship between Caritas Christi and the state's abortion-providing health coverage.
“It is clear that the Caritas/Centene partnership is proceeding with all deliberate speed towards the July 1st start-up date of the Commonwealth Care contract, while the Archdiocese continues its efforts to suppress Catholic opposition to the arrangement," said Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle. "Catholics need to keep the pressure up on the Archdiocese to cancel the contract, and they need to keep Rome informed.”
The American Life League is also spearheading opposition to the arrangement.
"We will not allow this scandal to go unnoticed," said American Life League president Judie Brown. "The Catholic Church in Boston is set to become a partner in the abortion industry."
Also in the news - Caritas is spending 70 million on IT technology and hiring 150 physicians.
A Catholic integrated delivery system that owns six New England hospitals is spending $70 million on information technology so it can better compete for patients against the major teaching hospitals in Boston.
Caritas Christi Health System is paying startup costs for implementing electronic health records software for 1,300 physicians, with area payers picking up the tab for basic hardware. In addition, the system is gearing up its clinical automation efforts at all its hospitals.
“In order to be competitive, we need to spend money on I.T.,” says Todd Rothenhaus, M.D., senior vice president and CIO. The Boston-based delivery system hopes to use information technology to generate clinical data that demonstrates it offers high-quality care at a low cost, or what Rothenhaus calls “value for the health care consumer.”
As the owner of community hospitals, Caritas Christi must take on powerhouses, such as Partners HealthCare System Inc., as it competes for patient loyalty in an intensively competitive market.
To help defray some of the enormous I.T. costs it faces, the delivery system will aggressively pursue Medicare and Medicaid financial incentives under the federal economic stimulus program, Rothenhaus acknowledges.
Since launching its effort to bring electronic health records to physicians’ offices in 2006, the delivery system has implemented software for 150 physicians. This year, it will add another 150 doctors. And it has set an ambitious goal of adding another 1,000 in 2010, Rothenhaus says.
***UPDATE
Adding to the pile of outrageous and false assertions, the Cardinal is circulating a press release saying he believes that Caritas wants to be consistent with Catholic moral teaching and that Caritas and CeltiCare are in "active talks", "with a view to make acceptable modifications to their arrangement"
Caritas signed a contract that included providing abortions. Caritas has publicly stated on numerous occasions that they will provide abortions and family planning services. This was a requirement of being awarded the contract.
Because the Cardinal and Caritas have promised to provide abortions, they have to hire somebody to carry out the abortions.
The Cardinal and Caritas are co-owners of the HMO (Celtic Care) that will carry out the abortions and ensure the abortions get paid for.
With the exception of making family planning, abortion, sterilization, embryonic stem cell research services that are not covered by the HMO the Cardinal has an ownership interest in, there is no conceivable modification to the arrangement that could ever be in compliance with Catholic moral teaching. The Cardinal and Caritas MUST hire somebody to carry out the abortions and refer the women to the persons they have hired.
The list of subcontractors has been published and includes many well-known abortionists and family-planning centers. These abortionists and family planning centers are direct business arrangements with the Cardinal, Caritas and Centene in their joint venture.
This dishonorable press release confirms
No comments:
Post a Comment